


My Angry Ass Roommate

by StarryEyedGoblin



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Developing Friendships, Feelings Realization, M/M, Seifer just likes to rile up Zell, Slow Burn, Zell can't help but respond, pre-game, rivals to friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryEyedGoblin/pseuds/StarryEyedGoblin
Summary: “You’re the reason I have to put up with your mug for two weeks now, and you can trust me when I say I won’t let you forget it”Xu is tired of seeing the boys fight in the halls and forces them to room together to get over their differences. Get along sweater but Garden style.Also accidentally catching feels and never saying anything about it. They are teenagers after all.
Relationships: Seifer Almasy/Zell Dincht
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

“Dincht! Almasy! This is the final time!” Xu glared imposingly at the taller student, her words echoing loudly, commanding the attention of all nearby garden students, “Seifer, you lead the disciplinary committee for crying out loud! You of all people should know and respect that fighting outside of the training grounds is prohibited. I’m not certain I can express my disappointment well enough. Since words of warning don’t move you to follow our guidelines then let me make my point clear another way. For one week you and Zell will be rooming together. You will learn to overcome your differences enough that you won’t be at each other's throats every time you pass in the halls.”  
Seifer stiffened at the sentence and Zell visibly blanched, mouth opening and closing as he tried to find the words to save himself from an impossible living situation. “Do I make myself clear or should I make it two?”

Anger rising quickly, Seifer ducked his head as he gritted his teeth. “We’re clear,” God he couldn’t stand public reprimands, they made him feel small. He worked hard to rise above his classmates and prove without a doubt through his strength and character that he was indeed better than them, getting his ass handed to him in the hall wasn’t good for his image. Stares were drilling into him and while he couldn’t hear whispers he could feel them all thinking with smug satisfaction that the mighty Seifer finally got a taste of his own medicine.

Zell had finished floundering, hectic words coming out in a jumble and moving his hands as he talked, “Wait, wait! This can’t- you don’t understand! We don’t do good together ‘cuz he always starts it! I swear I’m-”

Xu narrowed her eyes at the shorter blonde, a finger raised to silence him, stilling his awkward flapping, “Two weeks. You are well aware of the rules. You are both garden students and aspiring SeeDs and you will both learn to control your emotions to reflect that. This conversation is over. Starting tonight you will dorm in room 500A, you may pick up the keycards in my office,” she sighed as she started to walk away with parting words “I expect to see improvement gentlemen,”

The surrounding students quickly darted away, Xu’s departure and Seifer’s visible shaking cue to leave before potential violence. “Really Chicken Wuss?! Two weeks now!”

The outburst wound Zell up again and he was bouncing from one foot to the other, ready to defend himself mentally and physically, “You act like this is my fault! You started all of this!”

“You couldn’t just be a good little boy and say ‘yes ma’am’ could you?” Seifer made a grab for the neck of Zell’s shirt and was quickly batted away. With a growl of frustration he grabbed the offending fist and yanked the smaller blonde towards him. “You’re the reason I have to put up with your mug for two weeks now, and you can trust me when I say I won’t let you forget it”

Anger and embarrassment flushed Zell’s face a deep red, yanking his hand back with a little too much energy he hopped back to catch his balance. “Fuck you man, this ain’t my fault!”

Seifer had stopped listening, stalking off towards the training center. His head felt too full of words and emotions and he just wanted to explode. So he’d make due by hacking something to bits that wasn’t his classmate.

He tore into grat after grat, each small victory feeling like progress, every death screech deeply satisfying. If only all of life's problems were as easy to fix, slash a sword and you’re done. After about twenty or so creatures had fallen the burning anger and adrenaline wore off. Groaning a little he leaned his back against a wall and thought about his situation, it probly wouldn’t be so bad as far as punishments go. He could always give the chicken the silent treatment for the full two weeks, might make it pass by a little faster. Endlessly picking on him would be much more fun though, and make Zell sorely regret extending it. A rustle to his left caught his attention and with a quick look he found a group of grats edging towards him, grinning he readied a fire spell and met them head on.

\-----------------------

Zell’s typically brisk jog was reduced to a grumbling shuffle. Classes were over for the day, normally that was a great thing. Any other time Zell would be pulling out his triad deck and trying to win some better cards in the cafeteria, check out when the next batch of hot dogs would come in, maybe even zoom around campus on his Tboard. Not today though. With Xu’s sentence hanging heavy over his head he’d been dreading the end of the day. He still hadn’t made his way to her office for the keycard yet. Thinking on it now he wasn’t even sure how late she stayed in her office… As the thought crossed his mind he arrived at her locked door. A strangled sound came out of him as he slouched forward in defeat. Of course.

“Now what? I can’t go back to my dorm or she’ll just kill me, won’t even bother expelling me!” Pacing back and forth with his hands shoved in his pockets he was sorely regretting putting off the visit to her office, “Fuuuuck, what do I dooooo”

One more deep sigh escaped him before he decided to do what he could and just run. The dread that had settled in the pit of his stomach loosened with each step, forcing himself to go as fast as he could, a tingle of extra energy charging him from Quetz. The run had felt so freeing he almost didn’t notice arriving at the hall to the dormitories. Ducking down the hallways he decided to check 500A first, with any luck it had been left unlocked or Seifer would already be inside and could let him in. The door was still locked and banging on it didn’t make a grumpy asshole appear so it was safe to say he’d be spending some time in the hallway. He ran back to his own dorm and found his roommate wasn’t in, that was a small blessing if nothing else. It really was just his luck that he always got stuck with jerks for roommates. Seifer would probly be par for the course, except louder and more likely to hit him. He threw a few changes of clothes in a bag and grabbed his notes and book on Guardian Forces and Magic junctioning. One last glance around the room and his eyes settled on his stash of rare cards. Not that he had many, just he didn’t want them getting swiped by his roommate while he wasn’t there to protect his stuff. But would Seifer be any better? Maybe not, still, better to have them close by than leave them as an easy prize. Tucking his complete deck away he left his dorm for the next two weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

“Yo man, don’t you have to visit Xu today? Don’t wanna be late ya know?” Raijin grimaced as Fuujin kicked him sharply under the table.  
“IDIOT”  
“Sorry...” Of course his friends already knew, likely half the Garden knew by now. What fun. With a deep sigh Seifer leaned back in his chair, “I already took care of it. She turns all that paperwork in after classes are over so you’ve gotta catch her before then,”

  
The end of the day had finally come, all classes over, grat population thoroughly thinned, and dinner served. All that was left was to drop in on the chicken and ruffle up those feathers some before bed. Fuu and Rai talked together in the background, not quite loud enough to interrupt his thoughts. What to do to make this first night the most uncomfortable…

  
“-that’s right ya know?” The wide grin on Raijin’s face set to dazzling and Seifer didn’t have the heart to say he hadn’t heard a word so he just smirked with a little head tilt. A laugh from his friend was all he needed to know it worked.

  
“STUDY”  
“Oh man! I almost forgot! We got that test coming up, GF junctions ya know!” Seifer nodded to his friends as they left, then stood and stretched, setting off to pick up a few things from his own room and turn in for the night.

  
He came to a stop a few feet away from the appointed room when he saw Zell flopped over on his belly in the middle of the hallway, his nose shoved in a textbook and scribbling away notes. A fun little idea popped in his mind and he stalked forward as quietly as his boots would let him. Once he got close enough he kicked Zell’s bag a few feet ahead away from the door. Would've been a decent little jump scare had the bag not been unzipped, instead it became a real mess as Zell’s entire triple triad deck went scattering across the hallway.

  
“What the fuck man?!” Zell hopped to his feet in a blink and went straight for the cards.

  
Seifer bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn’t trying to snap back a reply since he did actually feel bad for his unintended mess. “You’re lucky I didn’t step on you, lying down in the middle of the hallway like that. What if I had been like you today? Running around not even paying attention to other students,”

  
“Hey I said sorry to the kid I knocked over! You’re just being a dick on purpose!” Zell looked torn between the desire to grab up his cards and smack Seifer, the cards won out.

  
“Whatever. Get out of the way, you’re gonna hold up other people.” Pulling out his keycard he let himself in and the door closed swiftly behind him. Though muffled he could hear Zell curse through the door. Looking around he noticed the dorm was completely empty, looks like he’d get to call dibs on the room he wanted. They were of course identical, but choosing his side was a nice perk. He dropped his bag down by the bed and removed Hyperion, checking over both sides of the blade for any remaining grat juice. Satisfied that his baby was clean and ready for another day he laid down on the bed only to hear a pounding at the door. “Well come in!” He couldn’t quite make out the muffled reply but the banging only grew louder, “Dincht I’m not your welcoming committee, just open the damn door!”

  
“-cant!”

  
“….damnit” Seifer got up and opened the door. Using the mass of his body to block the doorway he peered down at his new roommate, “Password,”

  
Zell’s eyes nearly rolled out of his head with a dramatic sigh, “Come on! I told you I didn’t get my key today, just let me in!”

  
“Oh, well in that case have a nice night out here,” Seifer made a feint at closing the door. Zell bolted forward, trying to push his way into the room before he could be locked out. The doorframe quickly became a new wrestling ring, one blonde trying to leverage his way in and the other grappling to try and toss him back out. Seifer lost his footing and nearly fell backwards as Zell took the opportunity to push his way inside.

  
“Seriously dude? You act like I wanna be here with you, I’m just trying not to get kicked out for being outside after hours” Zell glared at Seifer as he picked up his bag he had managed to toss inside during the tussle. This time the cards had been well secured and didn’t go flying everywhere.

  
“Trust me you’d be fine. It takes more than once, I’d know.” Noticing Zell look between the rooms Seifer was helpful enough to point towards the empty room. “And next time the password is ‘Seifer kicks ass’”

  
Settling into his room Zell said under his breath “More like licks ass,”

  
Not about to let even the smallest challenge go unanswered Seifer quipped back “Hey that’s only for the really kinky ladies. Who am I to deny pleasure?”  
He heard only a short pause before “Fucking gag!” Giving him a small laugh before he turned in for the night.

* * *

Zell startled as his alarm went off next to his ear. It was set for more than an hour before his first class, all the time he’d need to get ready, cram a little more and at least feel prepared. But for now hitting snooze was too tempting so he smacked the button and rolled back over. The warmth of the bed was too inviting and he hadn’t truly woken up so he quickly sunk into a light sleep. Ten minutes was all he got as the alarm sounded off as urgently as the first time, shrill tone echoing between barren walls.

  
“Shut that thing off already!” There was a soft thump on the wall from what Zell could only guess was a pillow being thrown his way.

  
“Yeah yeah...” murmuring about grumpy roommates Zell turned off the alarm and got himself ready. He had given himself more than enough time but looking over the abundance of notes he took he felt less and less confident. There was so much to cover and he wasn’t sure what was most important. He’d resorted to just copying every word from the textbook in hopes something would stick but he was starting to feel overwhelmed. “This isn’t helping. Maybe some food...” Glancing at the clock he had just enough time to sprint over and grab something to eat. If he hurried he could still be early to class. Pausing at the main door he looked back, the entire time he’d sat studying he hadn’t heard another peep from Seifer, no alarm either. He debated being friendly and waking him up since they were in the same morning class but he wasn’t keen on getting a pillow or anything else thrown at him. Nah, safer just to let him sleep. After all it’s not like the older student was his responsibility. With a sure step he left, running towards the cafeteria in hopes of grabbing a sausage biscuit.

  
Turns out his morning had been timed perfectly. He had arrived at the cafeteria just as the biscuits were finished and he made it to the classroom right behind the Trepies. He sat at his console flipping through his notes in a last attempt to calm his nerves and remember everything. Knees bouncing and fingers drumming he kept looking at the clock. It’s not that he’s failing but he’s definitely a few bad scores away from not passing. He felt confident in handling himself in a fight, the way the fast pace would carry him through one opponent after another, fists connecting and making his target see stars. No it was the written tests that really got him, he felt like the questions were worded just to trip him up too. He was really looking forward to the next field test, he always aced those.

  
“Alright everyone, notes away.” Quistis stood from behind her desk and Zell looked around, noticing almost everyone had made it in, “Today we’re having our test over magic junctioning. Remember this is a large percentage of your written grade but I know you’ve been given all the material you need to cover it. I hope you’ve prepared, good luck!” Quistis was interrupted in her good luck wish as the door gently whirred open revealing Seifer. “Good of you to join us Mr. Almasy, if you’ll take your seat we’re starting the test now,” A hand raised in acknowledgment was the only reply she received as he went to his seat, yawned and blipped away at his console screen.

  
Zell snorted, man that guy really seemed like he just didn’t care at all. Focusing on the screen in front of him he squirmed a little. It was only the first question and the wording was already killing him. He quietly repeated it out loud to try and make more sense of it “To junction magic you need a matching junction ability for the stat you want to junction...”

  
“Quiet please, others are trying to focus too,”

  
“Sorry...” Well crap. Alright that sounds true anyway. ‘When Elem-Def goes over 100% that element is absorbed’ was it absorbed? Or was it just blocked… Ugh, why couldn’t he remember. Answering false he bit his lip and moved through the questions as well as he could, stomach twisting in knots as he overthought every sentence.

  
A shuffling noise drew his attention, he watched as Seifer got up to exit and Quistis pursed her lips, “That was exceedingly fast, you know it’s not a timed test,”

  
“Ah I’ll be fine, thanks for your concern teach,” and with that he walked out. Zell was wide eyed, if only he had that kind of confidence. Looking back at the screen he ran a hand through his hair and hoped for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohmigosh, thankyou for the kind words! I plan to update about once a week but I've got this chapter up and ready early. It'll probly be really slow going plot wise but that's just more fun to read right? <3


	3. Chapter 3

Seifer was having a pretty good start to his day, he’d aced his morning test and did a perfect oil change on the car in the garage. Turning into the cafeteria he grabbed the sandwich of the day and looked around the tables. Besides some younger junior trainers and a couple locked in an intense card game the only person around was Zell who was looking very much like a kicked puppy. Seifer really didn’t feel like intruding on something personal, especially since they were going to see much more of each other lately. But there wasn’t anyone else to sit with and it’s not like he was about to sit alone in the corner like Squall. Walking over he claimed the empty seat across from Zell without asking.

The other boy looked up in surprise then grumbled, “Really? You gonna follow me everywhere now?”

Seifer motioned to the other options in the room, “You think I’m eating with these people? Besides it’s not gonna kill you.”

Zell ‘hmm’ed in acknowledgment and continued to mope as he pushed some fruit slices around his tray. Seifer stopped a few bites into his sandwich, this attitude just wasn’t natural. Clearly he was going to have to fish for conversation when any other day he’d have to work to get him to stop talking. He started to wonder if there was a real problem. “So what’s got you in mourning? Lack of hot dogs really hit you that hard?” The glare he got in response was a bit of a relief, whatever was on his mind hadn’t completely smashed that fighting spirit.

“No, just didn’t get the score I was wanting this morning,” Zell sat back in his chair and looked off to the side.

“I’m sure you did fine, hell you were studying last night,”

“This morning too, but a lotta good it did.” sighing he ran his hands back through his hair, almost flattening the crest of spikes, “I really needed to ace that one. We’ve got one more written test before the SeeD entrance exam and now I’ve got to do something miraculous to actually pass. Can you imagine getting held back for a written test when every field test is just a breeze?”

Seifer had finished his sandwich and was looking at the sad sight before him, “So what’s the problem? Material not clicking or do you just not know how to study right?”

“Hey, I’m not dumb, I get it!”

Amazing how quick those puppy dog eyes turned angry, grinning, Seifer put both hands up, “Not trying to say that, but something’s not working, right? What you get bad nerves with tests? I knew a girl with that problem,” Zell just stared at him with wide eyes and stopped talking so he took that as a yes. “I can’t do anything to help with the nerves but I can help you study better. Study efficiently and you’ll know everything, then the tests can’t intimidate you” Seifer grabbed his water and sat back with a half grin.

“Wait is that how you finished the test so quick this morning? I swear I thought you just guessed on half of them and walked out or something!”

Seifer nearly choked on his drink, “No, I don’t half ass anything. I just knew the answers and finished it.” Looking at Zell now he was nowhere near as mopey as before. That’s better, he could be a handful and annoying as hell but he never failed to entertain. It’d actually be a shame to see him be a sad sap constantly. “Don’t make a big deal out of it and I’ll help you study tonight. We’ll go through your notes and make it more manageable, even if you’re half worried to death you’ll do fine.”

Zell’s face lit up, his body language completely changed, the boy was glowing with excitement “Thankyou!!! Really, thankyou!”

“I said don’t make a big deal about it, besides you’re right there in the dorm, it’s not like I’m going out of my way. It’s cool,” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Fuujin and Raijin enter the room so he stood to meet them, “You really want to thank me we can play for a few of your good cards, or you can stop running over other kids in the hallways” He raised his eyebrows for emphasis as he walked towards his friends.

“That was an accident!”

* * *

Zell spread his arms wide and flopped backwards into a grassy patch in the training center, breathing heavily after running from a T-Rexuar. The day had been long and frustrating, one seriously disappointing test and a rough visit with Xu to pick up his keycard a day late was not the best start. He figured a visit to the training center for practice and to purge some of that negative energy would be the best thing, and it had really helped. Only problem was about ten grats in he had caught the attention of a much more demanding opponent than he was equipped for at the time. Running fast as he could he felt a breath away from flying and still had the beast snapping at his heels; he managed to loose it in the end. Breath beginning to even out a small laugh escaped him, he couldn’t help himself and burst into a fit of laughter, very near tears from the adrenaline rush and the absurdity of the moment. He felt good, grateful to be not just alive but truly living, and hopeful too. Seifer’s offer to help him study had really been a surprise, but a welcome one. He knew it could just be an empty promise thrown out in the moment, but it’s not like Zell had asked for help, Seifer just offered it on his own. Now that he was thinking about it he had no idea what the next test was gonna be over. How was he gonna study if he didn’t know what the subject was? It’s not like he could just read the whole textbook, he’d tried that before and it was way too difficult. Guess he could ask around and find out, there was still some time before dinner was served so he could visit the library and ask one of those girls… After a few more grats.

Stepping into the library Zell didn’t have to look far for help, he noticed one girl from the library committee manning the counter. She glanced down at his shirt still covered in sweat and a little goo before smiling, “Good evening! Is there anything I can help you with? A certain book you’re looking for?”

“Oh, well actually yeah. I keep hearing about this book ‘Goodbye Pupurun’, do we have it?” Already sidetracked.

The girl took only a moment to type away at the terminal, “We do, but we only have one copy and I’m afraid it’s checked out at the moment,”

“Oh cool! Is there a waiting list or, you know what nah, I’ll just come back another time and see if it’s been returned… but uh, I was actually here for another reason. You know there’s only one more written test left right? Any chance you know what it’s about? Cuz I’ve got to get a good grade on this and maybe if I had enough time to study I’ll actually get through this one fine.”

Grinning the girl held up her finger in a ‘wait’ as another library committee girl, one with a pigtail, stepped behind the counter. “Any chance you know the next subject?”

The pigtail girl was so quiet in her answer Zell almost couldn’t hear her, “Enemy Strategizing? Wait I don’t remember a chapter like that in the textbook. I don’t think I even have notes on that, what am I supposed to use to study that?”

“There’s a chapter on elemental opponents, but studying the different types of magic would be helpful too”

“Awesome!” Zell started running out of the library “Thanks so much for the info ladies you’re a lifesaver!” He didn’t hear either girl as one wished him luck and the other shouted no running, “Man today is just getting better and better!”


	4. Chapter 4

Seifer had just finished maintaining Hyperion when he heard Zell burst through the dorm door, “What’s the rush, Chickie? You sound like you’ve got a fox on your heels!”

“Really? Man do you just have a thing for rude nicknames or am I special?” Zell entered Seifer’s room with texts and notebooks in hand, clearly ready to make good on his earlier offer. He’ll have to remember not to lightly promise anything around this guy, especially if he seemed to really care about it.

“You  _ are _ special Dincht, you’re basking in my presence and living in the same dorm as me. Doesn’t get more special than that!” Zell rolled his eyes but Seifer couldn’t help notice the small smile that came with it. He raised an eyebrow as Zell made himself comfy on his bed, sitting cross legged and placing his books in easy reach around him. “So special I’ll ignore you inviting yourself onto my bed. That’s a rare treat you know, many people would fight you for that,” When Zell’s mouth just hung open speechless he laughed.

“Ignoring that. So I found out the next test is going to be over Enemy Strategizing, and that the chapter on elemental opponents is supposed to be helpful,” Zell picked up his pencil and looked at him with bright hopeful eyes, “Where do I start?”

“The chapter on elemental opponents, you just said it’s useful,” Seifer sat on his bed as well, one leg bent and the other stretched out, and on this cramped bed it meant bumping knees with Zell, though he didn’t seem to mind, “We’ll go through the monsters and make sure you know their weaknesses. I don’t remember anything Quistis said about this specifically but with that kind of name it feels like a lot of this is going to be intuitive. Anything else you know?”

“Well I’m also supposed to review the different types of magic,” Zell started flipping through pages in his book with one hand and twirled his pencil in the other, “Alright here it is…” his face slowly turned to a grimace as he eyed the multitude of monsters each with their own page of facts, “So mister genius notetaker, what am I supposed to do, write down every creature and every fact?”

“Heh, mister genius, I kinda like that. Could use a little work but it’s a good start.” the cute face Zell made gave him a small laugh, “No, not every fact. I want you to make a short sweet list. Name of the monster and one line below what it’s weakness is, skip a line and repeat, fill the entire page. How did the book sort them by?”

“Um… it looks like it’s by area, yeah, here’s Balamb creatures, here’s Trabia…”

“Alright, once you’ve got all the monsters written down you’re gonna write a new page with all the same monsters grouped by weakness instead of area. That’s gonna help you remember what to use each element against.”

Zell didn’t even grumble once at the command, staying silent and focused as he worked. There weren’t too many monsters as the book itself only covered Balamb, Trabia and Galbadia, but it was significant enough for actual quiet time to pass between them. Seifer watched at first as Zell scrawled out each name and element, noticed his handwriting was actually quite neat if a little rushed, shame he couldn’t make any chicken scratch jokes. His eyes moved from the writing to the hands forever covered by fighting gloves and wondered if the skin beneath was pale. The steady scratching of the pencil on paper had a calming effect and he began absent mindedly looking at Zell. His eyes traced over the crest of his gelled hair, the sweeping lines of his face tattoo, eyes intensely focused, and from this crouched position baggy clothes revealed hidden muscle. The trance was broken as Zell sat back with a little bounce, “Done!” Seifer sucked in a sharp breath, slightly flustered at nearly being caught eyeballing the guy for no reason.

“Alright, that page you just wrote is what you’re gonna use to study every time you look over your notes, you don’t need that first one. Now you’re gonna make a list of spells, just the names cuz I’m sure you already know what they do right? You’re gonna group it by Elemental, Status and Restorative,” there wasn’t nearly as long of a wait and this list was filled out mostly by memory.

Zell looked at him with raised eyebrows, “So… just study these two lists?”

Taking the moment to stretch Seifer leaned back with his hands behind his head, “Yep, that’s what we’ve got to go on for now, so look at those every time you’d normally study and you’ll start to remember them. It’s that easy,”

Zell picked up his books as he spoke, “Thankyou. I really appreciate your help. You know I was kinda afraid you were all talk and you’d just forget about this as soon as we got back tonight,”

Seifer’s head snapped up, “C’mon Chickie, you gotta think better of me than that. Just because I bust your balls every chance I get doesn’t mean I’m that much of a jerk,” the bashful smile on Zell’s face was enough of a response, “Well somethin’ else I didn’t forget was that you owe me a card game. Pull ‘em out,”

He laughed as he could almost see the lightbulb flash over Zell’s head, nearly dropping his books in his hurry to return with a fairly thick deck. “Alright, don’t think you’re just gonna win, maybe my studying sucks but I’m just as good at cards as I am at fighting!”

“Oh, sounds like I’ve got nothing to worry about then!”

“Dream on!”

\--------------------------

Zell woke to his shrill alarm chirping beside him and quickly smacked it to snooze. He only laid there for a moment before stretching out long and leisurely and turning off the alarm. Not trying to have another morning with a grumpy roommate, especially when he’d actually been so helpful. Swear it was like Seifer was two different people, one an insufferable dick and the other an okay guy with shitty jokes. Either way Zell still needed to get up, he wanted to review his notes and get a headstart for this next test. This time he was gonna ace it, no getting held back because of written tests, no way!

The morning went smoothly, he could remember all the monsters' names and a few of the elements too. He made a mental note to grab more hair gel from Ma as he got ready, and having had enough time to go fetch some breakfast he rolled into his classroom just finishing off his orange juice. Sitting down at his terminal he bounced his knees in anticipation. There was still a few minutes before Quistis would come in and he didn’t know if he could sit still any longer. He gave in to his nervous energy, got up and went to the back to throw some punches. Bouncing lightly on his feet as he focused on making each jab faster he hadn’t noticed the other students come in and take their seats, only Seifer’s low, sleep heavy voice brought him back to the moment, “Stop swatting flies Dincht, it’s class time,”

He sat back in his seat just as Quistis walked in. “Alright class, yesterday is done and today’s a new day. We have one written test left before the SeeD candidate tests, if you’ve studied and know your facts you’ll do fine. We’re covering enemy strategizing, something you’ll need at least a basic skill in if you ever hope to step out of the classroom. Now, for example, say you’re in the training center and you find a T-Rexaur has his eyes on you, what’s a good way to handle it?”

One of the Trepies quickly replied “Run” getting a few giggles from the others, with nobody else volunteering Zell piped up, “Cast blizzard?”

“Very good! Playing on your opponent’s elemental weakness is a solid attack point. You can also rely on status magic like sleep. Be aware that our magic is best utilized through junctioning. Zell, your blizzard would be stellar if attached to elemental attack,” Quistis turned around to point to an image of said monster on the projection screen behind her, continuing on her point about junctioning magic in specific ways.

God he must have the biggest, dumbest grin on his face right now, but it felt good to get something right first try. He turned around in his seat just to see Seifer grinning smugly satisfied and he felt his own smile go a little lopsided. Seifer made a face for a second that Zell didn’t understand then the grin was back with a little nod. Guessing his new roommate was still half asleep he overlooked the odd face and ran with the encouragement. Turning back around and leaning forward to hear more clearly he focused in on the lesson. This time was going to be different.

Class went well and Zell had a few new points written down in his notes, he was pleased to find the studying he did with Seifer actually covered most of what was discussed today. Running down to lunch he saw the long line and knew what that meant. Slowly moving forward he crossed both his fingers, today had already been so good, maybe it was about to be fantastic. It felt like forever but he made it to the front of the line, he could barely even speak to ask if they had any hot dogs left. Luckily he didn’t have to as the lunch lady smiled knowingly and handed Zell the last hot dog of the day. “THANKYOU!” was all he could manage as he ran to a table and wolfed down his lunch. Man, that was like the second time he’d managed to get one, they always run out too quick! Clearly all his lucky stars had aligned, looking around his eyes settled on a group of guys with their cards out and decided it was time to press that luck.

After three wins to three opponents Zell was over the moon. Bouncing a little in his seat he added the newest card into his deck and looked up to see Seifer settling in at his table, “You look happy, make up for the whoopin’ I gave you last night?”

“Pssh, whatever. Yes I did just win three games in a row, thanks for asking. And looooook, they’re all ones I didn’t have before! Nothing I could’ve made a card from around here either,” grinning ear to ear he leaned across the table to show off the proof of his victories.

Seifer pointed to the new Marlboro and talked around the food in his mouth, “I call dibs on that,”

“Yeah right! Man you’re lucky you even got that win yesterday, I just went easy on you is all. A thankyou for helping me out. Don’t think I’ll make a habit out of it,” Zell sat back shuffling his deck as he talked with a fast pace. “Tomorrow I don’t have any classes, I was thinking I’d go visit Ma. Gotta get some more hair gel, keep my style strong!” Seifer snorted and Zell pointedly ignored it, “Get some practice in on the monsters outside Garden too, getting tired of running around covered in grat goo. One day I may turn into one of them, come trying to bite on you and suck some health out of you!”

Seifer was staring at him now, and after the slightest pause he responded, “If that were possible there’s a few girls who would’ve beaten you to it,”

Zell just rolled his eyes. Of course. He was kinda glad Seifer bounced back from the bad joke so quick though, looks like Zell had lost his brain to mouth filter again. “Well still, time to mix it up a little. Do something exciting! Oh and I gotta remember to play the guy at the front gate before I leave, he’s always got good cards.”

“Don’t go losing my card before you can get it to me,” Standing up to leave Seifer gave a small wave in parting.

“Like you’re gonna get that lucky!” Zell leaned back with a big grin on his face. Who’d have thought today could’ve been so great and with the help of Seifer of all people. He knew better than to get his hopes up too much but he really felt like they were closer lately. Friends even? There was way less shouting and way more shitty jokes, and just looking at him didn’t make him grimace or wanna run the other way. Definitely a little change there. ‘Seifer is friends with that Fuujin girl, and all she ever does is shout. Maybe he’s just used to talking with her and forgot normal people think getting yelled at is rude? Or maybe he just doesn’t care how other people react to him and he responds purely on emotions? Or maybe, just maybe I’m sitting here overthinking the guy when I could be plotting taking out the Tboard tomorrow…’ Yes, tomorrow was going to be exciting. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey man! It feels like it's been forever, ya know!” Raijin laughed as he bounded up to Seifer in the hallway, Fuujin following directly behind, “TOO LONG”

Seifer grinned and shrugged, “True, but a few days off our routine shouldn’t hurt too much right? Unless you think these rowdy punks got bold while we weren’t around to keep the chaos at bay?” Admittedly there wasn’t much chaos, just the occasional fight between students and Zell being a hassle now and then. There was one time when a junior classman ran out of the training center with a few grats chasing him, that was a fun day. But still it was always amusing to catch someone acting up and set them straight with a single glare. They had met up in front of the directory and looking around at the students calmly walking to their destinations... today promised to be a slow day.

“DINCHT?” At first Seifer thought it was a question directed to him.

“Seifer check it out! Zell’s making the whole campus his skatepark ya know?!”

Zell had indeed dragged out his Tboard and was riding it through Garden weaving around the crowd in a zigzag pattern. Seifer couldn’t hide the sneer from his face if he wanted to, the very idea that punk would cozy up to him in private and turn around and publicly disregard safety regulations was enough to make him burn up. Anger churning in him Seifer took a few steps forward and pointed at Zell, “Dincht! What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Get off that thing now!” He watched a look of shock and fear wash across the other boy’s face.

“Sorry, comin’ through!” was all Zell said as he made sure to give the disciplinary crew a wide berth. Seifer made an impressive grab for Zell’s jacket as he zipped by but was just a moment too late to get a good handhold. He stood there glowering, watching as Zell glanced back with wide eyes before he was out of sight.

“I’m going to beat him until he can’t remember what a Tboard is,” tight fists starting to shake he took a long deep breath to try and calm himself.

“Man did you see how fast he’s gotten with that thing? It almost looked out of control ya know?”

“DANGEROUS. INCONSIDERATE.”

Calm enough to think clearly he tried to remember their conversation at lunch, besides rambling and what may or may not have been a clumsy attempt at flirting with him Zell had also said he’d go see his mother. “He’ll be gone for a while, so when he comes back I think I’m gonna have to remind him that being roommates with me doesn’t mean he’s above the rules,” Seifer had all the time he needed, Zell had to be back at Garden before curfew and now that they were roommates there was nowhere for him to hide.

The morning had passed without much incident, flying chickens aside. A couple in the library had a too loud lovers quarrel, but simply showing up helped them feel more amicable. The library committee also asked for help recovering some past due books from students, a task left for tomorrow as Fuujin and Raijin had midday class to attend. With their departure Seifer was left to his thoughts, wandering aimlessly with his head full of emotions to sort out he came to the quad. At the moment it was mostly abandoned and the bench he had claimed was covered perfectly by the shade of a tree.

Honestly he really did need to figure out what was going on with him, it was like before he knew what happened Zell was everywhere he went and had accidentally learned how to make him melt. How did he go from fighting that punk every time he saw him to getting flustered at every little thing he did? Maybe it was because he was so easy to get reactions out of, or maybe it was that stupid lopsided smile from class yesterday that made his heart skip a beat. And what the fuck was up with that grat comment yesterday? Either Zell didn’t really think when he said things or that was the worst flirting he’d ever seen. Whatever it was the other boy had quickly grown on him and then some, this was going to make the rest of their roommate sentence more challenging.

Sighing Seifer spread his arms out on the back of the bench and leaned his head back taking deep breaths of the fresh air. He knew this little crush wasn’t mutual, he could hardly believe it himself. For Zell to reciprocate his feelings would just be some kind of romantic dream. For now he’d just have to stamp down hard on these feelings, act like everything was normal and he wasn’t getting butterflies for his new roommate. Wouldn’t be too hard to hide behind anger today, just thinking about that little stunt this morning was starting to sour his mood again. He’d have plenty of time to get back at him for that though. 

Deep thoughts completed, he stood and stretched, only one class today, then a late lunch. Eventually he’d have to hunt down the other blonde and take away that stupid Tboard, give him a good chewing out. Maybe he could give him detention or something? ...Arrest him? A mental image of Zell struggling with handcuffs came to mind and he quickly pushed it away before the idea got out of hand. He had plenty of time to think of more appropriate consequences, at the very least he was going to demand an apology.

* * *

“No Ma, I’ve got a new study buddy, remember? I’ve got this!” Zell decided not to mention deeply pissing off said study buddy, or how he was being punished for fighting said buddy by rooming with him. Ma doesn’t need to know everything after all.

“Alright, well I hope he helps you. I know you’ve got all the energy in the world to take care of anything. Just remember, whatever happens, I’m very proud of you,” she wrapped him in a tight hug and ruffled the back of his hair.

“Thanks Ma. I’ll drop by again when I pass. See you,” With that Zell stepped out the door took a deep breath of salty sea air. Balamb had to be the most peaceful place ever, and nothing could pick him up like Ma’s cooking and a few words of encouragement. Now that he’d finished his visit it was time to go get a good workout on some different monsters.

Zell hopped on his Tboard and zipped out of town and towards the nearest wooded area he could find, it didn’t take long before he ran into a couple bite bugs and a caterchipillar. The larger beastie used an ultra waves attack on him sending him into a berserk fury, with all sense of control lost Zell tore through every monster he ran into. It took a while to shake off but when he finally calmed down he looked around the area and saw a giant TRexaur footprint just to the side of him. “Fuuuuck that. I don’t even have any blizzard magic on me. Maybe I should go get some more,” Stepping out from the canopy of trees he could see the sun was getting lower in the sky. He’d spent longer visiting with Ma than he thought, if he really wanted to get some blizzard magic he’d better hurry. Dashing down towards the beach the light shining off the water was distracting but he kept his eyes open for fins. It wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for, a pair of red fins tracing lines through the sand as the fastitocalons swam underfoot.

Zell drew an impressive number of blizzards from the fish as he dodged their attacks from below. The sun was getting a little too low in the sky so it was definitely time to head back, he could always pick a fight another day. He turned to run and escape his fight but stopped as he heard a car with a loud engine quickly approaching. His eyes widened in horror as he saw Seifer behind the wheel steering the car off the road towards him. Seifer stepped on the brakes and the car slid forward with momentum on the loose ground, spraying sand forward. Zell stumbled backwards to escape the flying sand and tripped over one large red fin. He’d forgotten all about the monsters, the threat they posed paled in comparison to Seifer honestly. Seifer hopped out of the car already yelling as one fastitocalon popped up from the sand, flying in an agitated pattern. Trying to block out the string of curses he could hear from the other side of the monsters Zell losed a thunder spell on the exposed fish. The flash of magic was immediately followed with a brutal slash from Seifer’s gunblade, taking out the monster quickly. Seifer walked towards Zell, anger rolling off him, clearly still upset from this morning, “Wait they come in pairs!”

His warning wasn’t quick enough and the fastitocalon still hiding underground successfully attacked, knocking Seifer over in the sand, “Bad time to start with me,” Zell watched Seifer slash into the fish over and over, raising it from the ground where Zell shot it back down with another zap of thunder magic.

Before the monster completely fell Seifer had stuck his gunblade in the sand and shoved him hard, “What the hell chicken wuss?! First you spend the morning running over students with your _banned_ Tboard, then you stay out till almost curfew?”

“Don’t shove me!” Zell pushed back against the other boy but he had no traction in the sand and he barely managed to move the larger boy at all.

  
“Or what? You gonna flap your wings at me? Gonna run away from me again?” Seifer pushed Zell harder and he landed in the surf, a growl of frustration escaped him as water and sand seeped into his clothes. Getting up he moved into a fighting stance, if Seifer wanted to be a jerk he’d go ahead and give him a run for his money. His footing and speed were greatly reduced by the sand and surf but his arms weren’t hindered at all and he used them to unleash a flurry of hits on Seifer’s unguarded torso.

Seifer doubled over sucking in sharp breaths, he’d definitely had the wind knocked out of him, Zell tried to use the opening to run only to be tackled to the ground. He was sinking slightly into the damp sand as his arms were held above his head and Seifer laid his full body weight on him in an attempt to hold him still while regaining his breath from that last attack. Struggling to shake the heavier boy off and wriggle out of his grip only served to dig himself deeper into ground, gritty sand irritating his skin, he went still however when Seifer leaned his forehead against Zell’s, clearly tired and still struggling with his breathing.

Zell’s breath caught in his throat as he became hyper aware of all the places they were touching, he knew Seifer was just trying to breathe but the position he’d put them in was more intimate than he’d ever been with anyone. Seifer appeared to have finally caught his breath and pulled his face back just enough to look Zell in the eye, “Just fucking say you’re sorry! You know better than to ride a Tboard around school, you did that shit just because you thought I’d let you off easy!”

Surprised to find hurt in his tone and his face it took Zell a second to respond. Seifer was too distracting, the heavy puffs of air against his skin and those striking green eyes had him feeling as caught as the hands and body holding him down, “I’m sorry… I didn’t do it cause of that, I just wanted to do something fun and thought I could sneak it past you. I didn’t… I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I just wanted-”

Seifer made a face and quickly climbed to his feet, offering Zell a hand to help him out of the shallow hole he’d dug himself into, “Save it, if we hurry we’ll get to Garden before curfew and I won’t have to throw the book at you for today.” Seifer grabbed Hyperion from the sand and started his car back up, “I am confiscating that Tboard though, throw it in the back,”

Slouching forward in defeat Zell sighed, “Alright,”


	6. Chapter 6

Seifer sat across from Zell at the lunch table, having settled into this new routine quickly the other boy just looked up and smiled brightly. Taking a moment to actually look at the food Zell chose he paused, “Soup and salad? That’s a far cry from a hot dog,”

“Hey those weren’t even an option today! Besides I didn’t really feel like burritos… the beans mess me up you know? Not trying to gas you out tonight”

“Gross and considerate all at once, good job Chicky.” 

Zell stirred his spoon around his soup, pushing around larger chunks of veggies, “Besides, it’s really not the weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten, you act like it’s some kind of foreign food”

Quirking an eyebrow Seifer had to fight the urge to question what exactly Zell has had in his mouth, and settled instead on asking, “I’ll bite, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?” 

“Well… one time at a festival I had a fried fastitocalon kabob, it was actually pretty good!” Seifer made a grimace just imagining it and Zell laughed, “But as far as gross I’d have to say hands down it was the kelp smoothie Ma made when she was on a healthy kick. I’d eat fried monster fish all day long over that stuff,”

Seifer chuckled and focused on his lunch. The small talk always came so easy with Zell, it had gone from annoying to comforting and he had to admit he was starting to really look forward to these moments with his new roomie. He was still a little pissed off about yesterday’s… everything, but he couldn’t resist just enjoying the moment.

His easy smile faltered when Zell broke the silence, “Soooo, yesterday…”

“Drop it.”

His stern tone and set jaw didn’t dissuade the other blonde, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I didn’t really think about how my actions could affect you, especially considering you’re disciplinary committee and everything with the roommate deal… I don’t wanna make life harder for you when you’ve made life easier for me you know? So I’ll try to be more thoughtful about stuff,”

Seifer stared hard at the other boy, every word was said with sincerity but it was a lot to absorb. He sighed, dropping his shoulders and stared at his plate instead. He’d seriously thought Zell was gonna bring up the moment on the beach and he just wasn’t ready to defend himself there. He’d let himself get a little too close to Zell and as exhilarating as it had been he knew it was just asking for trouble. Instead of getting called out for being a fucking creep he got this heartfelt apology and he really wasn’t used to good things catching him this off guard. “I got a little too pissed. Just don’t take advantage of me liking you now”

Even from the corner of his eye he could see Zell perk up, “You like me?”

Scrambling for a witty response is difficult with your heart hammering in your ears, “I… well you’ve grown on me. Like a fungus,”

He smirked at the burst of laughter from across the table, “Whatever! So you’ve just admitted that you like me  _ and  _ I’m a fun guy!”

“Oh god, I’m not ready for puns,” Seifer picked up his tray and left while the mood was good and before Zell really thought about what he’d just said .

Straight from pleasure to business Seifer walked into the library followed by his crew, he might be in a good mood but he could still throw on a glare to retrieve a few books. Helping out with the library committee was beneficial since the girls typically knew everything happening at Garden. Eventually he should take the time to learn their names. “Ladies, I believe you had a few books you wanted help with?”

“That’s right! Glad you remembered,” the girl moved some papers around on the desk and gave him a short list of books assigned to various students, “I went ahead and made out the list yesterday.”

He glanced over it and handed it to Fuujin, “Any chance there’s a new copy of Weapons Monthly?”

The smaller, more shy girl piped up and he couldn’t remember a time she actually addressed him, “Not yet, but could you tell Zell his book is in?”

“Sure thing..”

“Zell reads? That’s surprising ya know?”

“QUITE”

“Mostly he studies, let’s get to work on this list, who’s first?”

His two friends shared a look and Raijinn looked like he was going to comment until he saw Fujinn glowering at him.

“LEONHART”

“For this month’s Weapons Monthly! Of course. Bet you anything that antisocial punk is holed up in his bedroom trying to avoid everything. Let’s go bring him back to reality and see if he’s upgraded his weapon yet,”

* * *

Eyeing the board Zell mulled over two different cards in his hand. Seifer had just played a T-Rexaur card and while Zell could steal it away from the top with his bomb there was a good chance that would get flipped too. “I know you’re playing for the Marlboro card,”

“Got that right,”

Dropping a Glacial Eye underneath the dino was definitely a safer route even if it was overkill, “Then I have an idea about what I want for when I win,”

One eyebrow arched up over Seifers cards, “You mean  _ if _ you win Chicky, don’t forget I beat you last time,”

Zell grimaced as his card was easily flipped with a bomb, clearly his friend was out for blood. Or his card at least. Well no matter, he had plenty of good cards and he was totally gonna win this. Without hesitation he laid down a Fastitocalon-F and waited for the next move.

“Never said what you wanted,”

A big grin spread across his face and he couldn’t hold back the nervous laughter which only seemed to make Seifer stare at him, “Well I was thinking I could play for my T-”

“For your T-board?”

The words came out flat and unenthused and it would have been enough to dash his hopes a week ago, but now that he’d had some time to know Seifer he didn’t consider this completely hopeless. “Well yeah, it’s not like I’ll be going anywhere again for a while, all my classes are lined up kinda heavy since it’s almost time for the SeeD exam. I promised I wouldn’t be making life harder on you earlier and I really do mean it too! I just kinda want to make sure it doesn’t get lost or forgotten wherever you confiscated it,”

His roommate was clearly unimpressed by his heartfelt request but it wasn’t an immediate ‘no’ so… “I know you wouldn’t lose it but any of the Garden Faculty guys could. They wouldn’t care and would toss it right out… since they’re not really allowed and all…”

Seifer flipped down a card, face remaining impassive “Should you win it back exactly what do you plan to do with it? Since they’re not really allowed and all.”

“I was thinking I’d leave it in this room for now, cuz I know I can’t trust my old roommate with it. He’s seriously the biggest jerk, he’d toss it outside on purpose. Then sometime when I’m free I’ll take it to Ma’s and just stash it there”

He looked down at the remaining cards in his hand, four spaces left on the board and there weren’t a lot of good options for him. He placed down a Gayla to see it immediately snapped up with a Red Bat. It was really looking like he’d be losing this round…

“Well it sounds like you got yourself a roommate upgrade at least,”

“Oh definitely, I’ll take you anyday,”

Seifer rolled his head back with a breath of a laugh, “Well maybe not after this,” He placed down his best card, Fujin and Raijin, easily beating the remaining cards in Zell’s hand, “I really kinda expected you to play that Marlboro, thought you’d give me a better fight than that,”

Zell knew his face must be bright red, even his ears were hot, “Oh really? Shuffle your deck again, this time I’m gonna beat you so hard your head’s gonna spin!”

“Yeah, yeah. Marlboro card?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankyou to anyone still lingering around to read this lol... this has been a ridiculous year but I will not let it stop me from finishing this story. There is an ending planned and it's going to happen lol.


	7. Chapter 7

Seriously, what is it with Zell running through the hallways? The first floor is bursting with students leaving their classes for lunch and of course chicken wuss is weaving in between the passing students as if he has somewhere important to be.

“Dincht!” The boy looked around but didn’t seem to notice him through the crowd and continued dashing through. Normally other students give Seifer room but the crowd made it impossible so he shouldered past a few bodies. 

Reaching out he just barely grabbed the other boy’s arm, pulling him backwards, “What do you think you’re doing Dincht?”

“Hey!” Zell growled out before he turned to face Seifer. When their eyes met his face completely changed to a wide grin, “I’m trying to get to the cafeteria, I heard they’ve got hot dogs!” he pulls off Seifer’s hand, turning to head back into the throng.

No way in hell was he gonna let Zell trample some more unsuspecting junior cadets. Seifer yanks back on Zell’s arm to keep him from running off, using a little more strength than intended he pulls the boy into him. Knocked off balance by Zell he falls against the fountain railing and tips backwards, pulling them both into the water.

For a brief moment the crowd stops and stares, the sudden quiet broken by a few hushed exclamations. Seifer rolls off of Zell as quickly as he can, he had managed to land on his hands in an attempt not to squash the smaller blonde but they had still bumped foreheads as Seifer had fallen on top of him. As an added insult their clothes were now soaked through.

“ALMASY! DINCHT!” The shout caught them more off guard than the chill water had and they both stared in surprise as Xu stood before them, arms crossed clearly ready for a long rant, “When I assigned you two as roommates it was intended as an opportunity to learn-”

“Crap…” There was no getting out of this ear full, might as well get up out of this cold ass water. Seifer stood and offered his hand to Zell who accepted wordlessly. Ever the show off Zell did a little handspring off the railing and back onto dry floor, nearly slipping on his landing. Seifer raised an eyebrow grabbing the railing with one hand to easily hop over. Of course he nearly slipped as well, if it hadn’t been for Zell grabbing him at the last second he likely would’ve hit the back of his head against the railing and wouldn’t that just be the icing on the cake. 

Zell smiled wide and bounced his eyebrows at Seifer who just rolled his eyes with a small grin, grabbing the length of his coat and wringing out the water to the best of his ability. Neither boy had noticed when Xu had stopped talking in favor of watching the two interact. 

Xu shook her head and waved the boys off, “Be more careful in the future, minding your terrain is an important skill for a SeeD. Get changed you two,”

“Yes Ma’am,”

“Yes Ma’am!”

At least most of the students had cleared out and they had an easy time walking towards the dorms. Zell looked over at him with a small pout, “Why do I always end up wet with you on top of me?”

Seifer could  _ not _ hold back his laughter, “Well damn Zell, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you felt that way about me!” 

A deep red blush spread across Zell’s face even reaching his ears. Unable to form a comprehensive response he threw a few half assed punches which Seifer dodged easily. In an apology of sorts he allowed himself to be pushed through the door once they reached the dorm. The memory of that pretty blush might actually be worth all that nonsense…

* * *

Zell chewed on his pencil eraser while he looked over his notes. He was feeling a lot more confident about his study skills now but he still wanted to make sure he could remember everything. If he just read over his notes enough in his free time he was hoping it would all stick. Remembering the local monsters was easy but he was still struggling with some oddballs over in Galbadia. He was focused on the Armadodo monster when the sun disappeared from the quad table he was sitting at.

“Hey!!! Seifer said you spent a lot of time studying, just didn’t expect to really see it ya know?”

“WANT COMPANY?” Fuujin asked as the two sat on either side of him, a little closer than he would’ve expected, there was a whole table and they were leaning into his space.

“Uh, hi?...” his mind was racing and he felt like he was made of elbows, each shift in his seat had him bumping up against one or the other. His internal flailing halted when he heard the tiny mewl that seemed to come from Raijins chest.

“Since Seifer’s busy in his mechanics class we figured you could help us out! You guys do have the same room ya know” Raijin’s smile was ear to ear and almost seemed brighter than the sun.

“SOMETHING SMALL” Fuujin had a discreet smile that faded as she looked around the quad to make sure they had relative privacy.

Raijin leaned in closer to Zell as he removed the tiny ball of fur from under his shirt, “We found this little guy by the side of the road today, who knows where the mama was or any owner. We just couldn’t leave it ya know?”

Zell nodded as he looked down at the brightest blue eyes, the kitten was wobbly just sitting still, the tiny thing looked like an oversized cotton ball in Raijin’s hand.

“HIS NAME IS SNACKCAKE”

“We’ve already gotten in trouble before for saving a stray dog, Fuu thinks it’d be better to hide it with Seifer, but he’s in class and you’re right here!”

Zell opened his mouth to speak but words didn’t come immediately.

“HIDE HIM WELL!”

Raijin slid the tiny kitten into Zell’s hand and the two stood, looked around and dashed off.

“What the hell?” Zell looked back down at the tiny kitten, “Well I guess Seifer will figure it out when he gets back right?” There was a tiny mewl in response and he couldn’t help smile as he packed up his notes and headed towards his dorm.


	8. Chapter 8

Seifer groaned as he stretched out his back making a small but satisfying pop, he was a tall guy and cramping himself underneath the truck for thirty minutes was pretty annoying. Looking around the dorm he noted he was alone and sighed, shoulders dropping as he walked over to his bed. Having Zell as his roommate was actually fun, but constantly being around the guy you have a crush on isn’t exactly peaceful either. He sank into his bed, his consciousness was fading quickly and he heard a tiny sound, amazing that he was already dreaming before he was fully asleep. The noise persisted, a meek mewl that barely registered in his drowsy mind. Tiny little claws sank into his shirt and tipped at his skin bolting him awake, “What the fuck?!”

Seifer looked down at the fluffy creature that dared attack him in his sleep and it looked back at him with a little squeal. His thoughts came in a flurry, bouncing between where the hell Zell was and this cute kitten, he lifted a finger and waggled it in front of its face. The fierce little fluff latched on with both paws, pinpricks of claws extended to catch its prey. “You’re adorable as hell but I can’t keep you here,”

Back up on his feet, fuzzball in hand, Seifer looked around to see if there were any notes of explanation. Of course there were none, just some scratch paper on the floor that he assumed was for the kitten. Had Zell even had a cat before? There wasn’t even a food or water dish… Better fix that now. He took a saucer from the kitchenette and filled it with water, when he sat it down in front of the kitten it immediately lapped up as much as it could. 

“Punk doesn’t even know how to take care of you does he?” He scratched behind tiny ears and cooed some more at it, before sighing and looking at the door. “Well cat, let's go find your would be owner and teach him a thing or two. C’mon,” Sweeping the kitten up and dropping him gently in his coat pocket Seifer headed right back out the door. 

They hadn’t managed to meet for lunch today so he wasn’t for sure where Zell was this half of the day. He was pretty sure both of their classes for the day were over, if he walked around the Garden maybe he would get lucky and spot him. He reached the lobby just in time to see the elevator doors open and reveal a shifty looking Zell with something bulky shoved under his shirt. Seifer watched him try to casually walk along the hall holding his stomach. One of the Norg guards crossed Zell’s path and he froze, giving Seifer time to walk up to him.

“What’s the matter chickie? Stuff too many hot dogs down?”

Alarm lit up his face, wide eyes glancing back at the guard that was walking away, “Shhh! I’m not trying to get caught right now!”

“Did you think nobody would notice you suddenly grew a gut under your shirt? No, better question, did you think I wouldn’t notice the little visitor you brought to our room?”

“Oh good! You know! I was going to-”

Zell wasn’t able to finish his sentence as Dr. Kadowaki stood before the boys, “Seifer, Zell, what seems to be the problem here?”

They looked at each other for a second before they both started talking, stories of stuffing too many hot dogs and just on their way back to the dorm were silenced with one raised hand. “Zell, what have you got hidden?”

Seifer had never seen Zell with a solemn face before, he pulled out a small size bag of kitten food, unable to meet Dr. Kadowaki’s eyes. A perfectly timed mewl escaped from Seifer’s pocket so he reached down and pulled the tiny kitten from his coat. Zell opened his mouth to speak but Seifer put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head, “I found the little guy alone and Dincht suggested we take it to his Ma’s. We were on the way to do that now,”

Kadowaki’s eyebrows rose a little, he couldn’t tell if it was from the story or the surprise, but it looked like she was taking it well. Even she couldn’t stand up to the charms of this little fuzzball it seemed as she scratched it’s tiny head with a smile.

Zell fidgeted with the food bag before he finally decided to speak up, “His name is Snackcake,”

“One bite and he’d be eaten right up! I bet he is terribly sweet, haha…” Looking over the boys she nodded, “Next time come to me and get written permission so you don’t have to sneak around. It really isn’t your strong suit, either of you. Have a good evening boys,”

Zell sighed in relief and looked over with a lopsided grin that made Seifer ache a little, he smirked in return and decided he would wait till the walk to Balamb before he laid into the chicken.

* * *

“Alright Dincht, where’d the cat come from?”

“From Fuujin and Raijin, they found me studying after lunch and dropped this little guy off,” Zell watched Seifers face change from gruff inquisitor to something like an annoyed babysitter, “They said they wanted your help but you were in class so they stuck him with me,”

“That sounds like them. Last time it was this pitiful dog, thing only had three legs. They actually managed to keep it in the dorms for three days before anyone noticed. Guess they forgot you have to walk dogs,”

Zell hmmed and shifted the food bag to the other side, he was seriously glad he’d only been given a small size, lugging a large bag to Balamb would be seriously annoying.

“While we’re talking about taking care of animals have you ever had a cat? You do know how they work don’t you?”

“I mean… no, but it can’t be all that hard right? I heard cats even fend for themselves sometimes,” the grin and light ‘ha!’ in response made him feel like he answered wrong though. “Alright smart guy, how do cats work?”

“For one they need water and food, I see you got one but you completely forgot to get the water. This little guy tried to maul me to let me know he was thirsty,” Seifer booped said kittens nose as he was talking and Zell couldn’t hold back his grin.

“Right, maul you. Vicious creature we have here,”

“And cats don’t use loose paper. Seriously how did you make it this long without just absorbing that knowledge? I thought you had just ran off with a kitten that you intended to raise with no idea how to care for it.”

He could feel his face getting hot, “Listen, I didn’t know! I tried!” Hyne was he glad the walk to Balamb wasn’t far, make one mistake and you get grilled for it! But to be honest this could have turned out a lot worse, he’d thought for sure it was the end when they ran into Dr. Kadowaki earlier. Of course he should’ve known better, she’d always been there for him any time he’d had problems.

“One more thing, where’d you get the food? I saw you coming out of the elevator with it,”

“Ah… that I actually got from Quistis! There’s a local stray that she feeds and she keeps a few bags in her desk.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I only knew ‘cuz I got to see her feed it one day when I stayed behind for extra studying. It’s supposed to be a secret but considering what we’re doing now I don’t think she’d mind you knowing,”

A brief silence fell between them as Seifer played with the kitten in his palm and Zell watched. Gradually his eyes moved from the small fuzzball to the boy beside him, his expression was so light and happy. He always played the tough guy so Zell had never seen him look so peaceful. Even when they played cards or ate together it’s like he never really let his guard down. It was nice to see him act so care free, and all it took was a handful of fluff.

“I really need to thank you, you know?” Seifer's eyes locked onto his and he felt his heart jump into his throat, “Everything about this could have gone wrong and it almost did, and you just appeared right in time to fix everything. Didn’t have to worry about lying or not lying about the cat food, didn’t get kicked out for harboring an animal. You even figured out what to do with it before I could explain anything to you.”

Seifer was still staring at him quietly and now he was feeling super self conscious. “Just- thanks for coming in and saving the day. You do that a lot lately. When you’re not pushing me over into water”

That last bit did the trick and he got a genuine smile out of him, “Yeah, well that’s what I’m here for.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've written in forever and I'm sure it shows, but I got the idea stuck in my head and wanted to show a rare pair some love. That and I just wanted to make something more lighthearted. Thanks for reading, click kudos if you like <3


End file.
